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The Woodford Family
The stately marble monument that stands just inside the gate, to the North, is the monument
dedicated to the Woodford family.
There are four generations memorialized on it; one side for each generation. The monument is in the center of lots 3 and 7 and the graves surround the monument. There is an additional lot to the east that contains graves of family members not named on the monument.
The early Woodfords were a large family and can trace their line back to Thomas, who arrived
in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1632, having sailed from Lincolnshire, England. The Woodfords that settled in Wintonbury came from the Farmington and Winsted, Connecticut area.
Jeremiah Woodford, son of Capt. Ezekiel Woodford and his wife, Ann Bishop, was born on
August 9, 1783. He was the fifth child in a family of 11. He married Hannah Latimer, daughter of Capt. George Latimer and Hannah Loomis Latimer on April 2, 1807.
Jeremiah built the
house that became the Woodford homestead for five generations. It's interesting to note that the individuals named on the monument were the families that lived in the homestead and
worked the farm lands upon which the house was built.
The Woodford homestead was located on School Street and the lands around it were cleared for
farming, gradually, by the farming families and eventually the farm consisted of 120 acres.
A brook ran through the western area, just east of a large stand of maple trees. Family members have told about finding broken Indian artifacts along and in the narrow, winding brook. As the workers tilled the land for the first time, children followed the plows and picked up arrow heads.
Jeremiah not only cut the trees to clear the land and make timbers to build the house, but
he also gathered stones and laid them for the cellar foundation.
The original floor boards were wide and the walls were plaster with horse hair. Originally, the house had four large rooms, each with a fireplace, downstairs, and four bedrooms upstairs. The kitchen fireplace had bread ovens built in. There was a woodshed attached that housed a summer kitchen and pantry as well as wood storage.
Jeremiah and Hannah moved into their completed house in 1812. Together, they had five
children:
Jeremiah, born July 22, 1808, died August 11, 1893 in Ohio where he lived after
leaving home.
George, born October 26, 1810, died October 4, 1826; buried in the Old Wintonbury
Cemetery next to his grandfather, Capt. George Latimer.
Hannah, born December 24, 1812, died June 7, 1816; buried next to her brother,
George.
Harriet, born February 7, 1815, died October 24, 1839; buried in this lot with
her mother and father.
Lester, born September 22, 1821.
The Jeremiah Woodford family members who are buried in Lot 7 are listed on the West side of
the Woodford monument.
Lester, son of Jeremiah and Hannah Woodford, was born September 22, 1821, and was the last
of the five children. He lived in the homestead and operated the family farm. He married Clarissa A. Peck, from Westminster, Vermont, on January 14, 1850.
It is written, in old family records, that Lester was a very private man and no likeness of
him can be found, although the family have portraits and photos of most all other Woodfords. He also had a reputation of being a kind, but stern gentleman who stuck to his strict principles.
Lester and Clarissa had five children;
Mary Josephine, born September 22, 1851, died October 2, 1932.
Mary attended
Bernardston Academy, taught school in Hartford, West Hartford, and Wethersfield. She was a very active church member, author and traveler as well as a dedicated member of the
Temperance Movement. She never married. She is buried in the Woodford lot.
Harriet Elizabeth, born March 17, 1856, married Robert Barrett on September 28,
1875 and moved to Hartford with him. She died August 29, 1920 and is buried with her husband in Hartford.
George Latimer, born August 15, 1859, died November 29, 1861; buried in Lot 3
with his mother and father.
George Franklin, born September 8, 1862
Sidney Joseph, born April 24, 1867, married Annie Morton of Canada, on September
18, 1900 and is buried with her in Mountain View Cemetery, Bloomfield.
Lester died March 21, 1887 and Clarissa died January 11, 1897.
They are buried in the Woodford lot.
George Franklin Woodford was born a year after his two-year-old brother, George Latimer, died. George F. and his brother Sidney, inherited
the homestead when Lester, their father, died. The two young brothers operated the farm together, growing vegetables, harvesting nuts, selling fertilizer, as well as maintaining a small
dairy, for a few years. They eventually separated, Sidney obtaining a farm on Park Avenue, Bloomfield.
George was very active in the Republican Party, held many town offices and was elected a State Representative and, later, a State Senator.
George Woodford married Helen A. Wilcox on March 26, 1890 and together, they had a family of
six children;
Lois Wilcox, born January 17, 1891, died May 10, 1963. Lois graduated from
Mt. Holyoke College and became a leading chemist in Stamford, Connecticut. She never married. She is buried in Lot 3.
Infant son, born and died 1892; buried in Lot 7.
Edna Almeda, born September 21, 1893, died October 27, 1963. Edna was never
married, served as an Army nurse in WWI, worked as a nurse at Traveler's Insurance Company, Hartford, and is buried in Lot 3.
Harriet Jeannette, born February 9, 1896, died July 21, 1986.
Harriet graduated from Columbia University, married Walter Cabell Duke from Virginia in 1929. They lived in Virginia and had three children together: Robert Cabell, born 1930, Almeda Ruth, born in 1931 and Barbara Jean, born in 1932. Walter died in 1936 and Harriet moved back to Bloomfield and taught in the public schools to support her family. She is buried in Lot 3.
Ruth Wright, born July 15, 1897, married Raymond Abbe, in 1930, lived in Enfield
with her husband where she died and is buried.
Harold Lester, born November 13, 1898.
Harold Lester Woodford was the last male in this family of Woodfords. Born November
13, 1898, he was the youngest of six and the only surviving male. While attending Connecticut Agriculture College, he was in the R.O.T.C. during WWI. On June 30, 1926, he married
Gertrude Morey, from Bantam. They lived in the homestead and Harold operated the family farm. Together they had three daughters;
Helen May, born May 1, 1927.
Lucy Ann, born May 24, 1930; married C. Wirsul, August 30, 1952.
Ester Jane, born December 2, 1039; married H. Erik Olson, June 13, 1959.
Harold died January 9, 1974 and is buried in the family lot.
Gertrude died January 29, 1988 and is buried alongside her husband. This completed the fourth side of the monument and it signaled the end of the Woodford Farm.
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